This invention relates to the field of belt or pocket clips for attaching a battery powered radio to a user's article of clothing, and, more particularly, to such a belt clip that is suitable for automated manufacture.
Portable radio transceivers and selective call paging receivers ("pagers") are frequently provided with a belt or pocket clip to secure the device to an article of clothing worn by the user. These prior art belt clips were designed to be manually assembled and present difficult problems when automated assembly is attempted.
To assemble a clip to a radio housing, a typical prior art belt clip requires manual alignment (usually visually or by "feel") of hinge pin holes of the clip with hinge pins holes of the housing. To complicate the problem, the hinge pin holes must be aligned while simultaneously preloading (e.g., compressing or stretching) a spring.
Next, a pin must be aligned with and inserted into the hinge pin holes. A prior art belt clip typically uses a rolled pin which is difficult to align because, prior to insertion, the diameter of the pin is larger than the diameter of the holes. Accordingly, the pin is not self-aligning and insertion resistance is encountered over the entire length of the pin. Accordingly, assembly of the prior art belt clip requires that at least three functions be performed simultaneously: the alignment of the hinge pin holes, the preloading of the spring, and the alignment and insertion of the pin.
These manual assembly problems make automated assembly of the prior art pocket clip even more difficult. It would be desirable, therefore, if a new pocket clip could be designed that would be more suitable for automated assembly.